OVERVIEW

MicroMod Automation & Controls manufactures, distributes, and services advanced process control equipment for industrial and institutional boilers, waste-water treatment plants, and food and chemical processing. The company operates facilities in Southampton, PA and Mexico City. MicroMod prides itself on the experience and expertise of its sales, support, development engineering, project engineering, and manufacturing staff.

NOT YOUR TYPICAL MANUFACTURER

A typical distributor sells stock items out of its inventory. A manufacturer may build the same item over and over again. Neither business model fits MicroMod. Pat Carpenter, purchasing manager at MicroMod explains, “We take an item and customize it to meet a customer’s specific needs. It’s possible that no two are ever alike. We might add more parts and labor during configuration, order additional parts from a supplier, perform in-house processing, and outsource certain processing before the product is complete and ready to sell.”

MicroMod relies on JobOps and Sage 100 to accurately estimate and track the costs involved in this custom manufacturing process. SWK Technologies, Inc. expertly implemented and supports both solutions. Carpenter worked closely with SWK Technologies’ consultants to configure the solution to meet MicroMod’s exacting needs. “What we do would be next to impossible without JobOps,” says Carpenter. “It would be an overwhelmingly cumbersome manual process. With JobOps, we’re able to serve our customers and make money doing it. 

ACCURATE COSTING

MicroMod is able to create an accurate estimate of each job’s cost, ensuring it prices its products fairly. Carpenter says that one of the most valuable features of JobOps is the ability to report on the budgeted versus actual costs of both current and completed jobs, “We are very accurate in our quoting process, largely because we can see exactly how much it cost us to complete a similar job.”

Engineers configure each part on the shop floor and then record their time directly into JobOps’ Time Tracker module. Those hours are then instantly applied to the project, ensuring costs are always up to date. Time Tracker is also a useful tool for measuring the workload capacity of MicroMod’s engineers and technicians. By monitoring the hours spent on projects over the week or month, MicroMod can accurately gauge its ability to handle additional projects.

It’s that ability to accurately estimate and monitor its project costs that Carpenter believes gives MicroMod an edge over its competitors. “While other companies may either lose money on a job or have to go back to the customer with their hand out, we know going in exactly what our expected costs will be. Our customers get what they ask for, at the price quoted.”

ASSEMBLING A PARTNERSHIP

The partnership MicroMod enjoys with SWK Technologies continues to be a rewarding one. “I absolutely love the staff at SWK Technologies,” praises Carpenter, “They’re knowledgeable, prompt, and helpful. I’ve learned a great deal from them.”

When speaking of the new training center SWK Technologies recently opened in Rochester, New York, Carpenter says, “To me, it signals a big commitment to their customers.”

SWK Technologies has configured a winning solution for MicroMod, one that allows the company to deliver high-quality parts to its customers—on time and at the right price.

ABOUT SWK

SWK Technologies, Inc. is a unique IT consulting company, providing strategies and solutions to meet its clients’ information and business management needs. As a Sage Software Select Partner, SWK Technologies offers best of breed solutions for accounting and business management, human resources and payroll, customer relationship management (CRM), job management, and warehouse management.

Specializing in collaborative commerce—the communication and cooperation between suppliers and customers, SWK Technologies has developed a robust EDI solution that integrates seamlessly with the business management solutions it sells and supports. MAPADOC EDI is used successfully by companies in dozens of industries trading with hundreds of different trading partners. Office locations: New York, NY, Melville, LI, NY, Rochester, NY, Syracuse, NY, and Buffalo, NY.